Opinion | How full-chain games bring true asymmetric information games inside the game

Why haven't we seen a phenomenon-level product in the full-chain game industry yet? Is it because the industry is still developing, or is the fundamental logic not suitable for the market? The cryptocurrency research team MetaCat believes that full-chain games can offer a "real game" and have unique advantages.

What is Fully On-chain Gaming?

Fully On-chain Gaming refers to games where most of the game logic is executed on the blockchain network, including not only the ownership of in-game assets like items but also information such as player positions, statuses, and game results, all recorded on the blockchain. This makes the overall game more decentralized and gives players more control.

However, recording all information on the blockchain inevitably leads to increased costs and operational inconvenience, also constrained by performance issues. Yet these are considered technical challenges that can be addressed in the future by using higher-performance networks and purpose-driven technologies.

There are more critical issues to be discussed regarding Fully On-chain Gaming beyond these technical challenges. What other key factors need to be considered in Fully On-chain Gaming?

Why isn't Fully On-chain Gaming taking off?

Fully On-chain Gaming has yet to produce a killer application or paradigm in the field. What are the improvement directions and existing advantages that Fully On-chain Gaming needs in order to surpass current games? Is this the direction that all teams should be considering and pursuing?

MetaCat believes that at this stage, Fully On-chain Gaming is still in the experimental phase, as it has not captured its unique advantages to attract players, leading to the absence of phenomenal applications. This is not solely a technical architecture issue, although improvements are needed.

However, MetaCat considers the original Fully On-chain Gaming pioneer, "Dark Forest," to have a very interesting design that could serve as a reference point.

What did Dark Forest get right?

In Dark Forest, players search for other players' planets to attack and plunder resources. Players must calculate hash values to discover other planets, creating uncertainty and information asymmetry in each turn.

Behind the simple game mechanics, Dark Forest integrates two major innovations:

• Digital Physical Laws built on the immutability of the blockchain
• Asymmetric Information Game based on Zero-Knowledge Proofs for a fog of war

Digital Physical Laws

The decentralization of the blockchain means data cannot be modified or deleted, serving as an important starting point to explore the ideal form of Fully On-chain Gaming. As the blockchain is currently the only platform capable of establishing "immutable digital physical laws" in the digital world, everyone is bound by the principles of operation.

Fully On-chain Gaming can provide an experience, the "digital physical laws," where no third party, including developers, can influence the game's direction and result, an experience that traditional games cannot offer.

Fully On-chain Gaming must offer something new and unique, a new experience that traditional games lack, to truly win players' favor.

Asymmetric Information Game

Asymmetric Information Games are common in the physical world and traditional games, such as business negotiations, private auctions, poker, mahjong, real-time strategy games like StarCraft, etc.

Asymmetric Information Games provide players with a more engaging gaming experience, as incomplete information often requires players to make judgments or fill in the gaps using their imagination, stimulating brain activity.

In the real world, asymmetric information games are usually achieved through artificial rules, while in traditional games, centralized rules are typically used, which can lead to a single point of failure risk, such as cheating by breaking server rules.

Dark Forest uses zero-knowledge proofs to achieve a more perfect asymmetric information game mechanism, preventing users from easily breaking the rules.

Dark Forest's Clever Creation of a Real Asymmetric Information Game

The gaming experience brought by asymmetric information games is protected by digital physical laws, ensuring the game's rule immutability and preventing rule-breaking.

From a first-principles perspective, as the combination of these features can only be achieved by Fully On-chain Gaming, Dark Forest, in a way, also validates the players' demand for this experience. Perhaps the further integration of these two elements could be the path to the "Holy Grail" of Fully On-chain Gaming.

The Future Development Direction of Fully On-chain Gaming

MetaCat believes that the combination of "digital physical laws" and "asymmetric information games" resulting in the "real games brought by the game" will be the unique advantages of Fully On-chain Gaming and the future development direction worth exploring.

Utilizing existing features as strengths rather than simply imitating current games may pave the way for a successful future in Fully On-chain Gaming. The Dark Forest team deeply understands the essence and has achieved success.